FC Halifax Town 2025-26 season review: Best of the rest was about right as Shaymen narrowly miss out on play-offs
In the end, the best of the rest was about right.
The Shaymen gave it everything, once again wringing every last drop out of what was at their disposal, but it wasn't quite enough.
The gap between Town and the top seven was one league place, but in reality, the 11-point difference was a more accurate portrayal.
So near, yet so far.
Neither Adam Lakeland or FC Halifax Town have been used to finishing outside the play-offs.
But the fact they did is more down to the relentless pace of the teams above them than anything else.
Yes, there were stupid dropped points, dips in form and missed penalties, but it was a valiant, season-long effort from all involved.
For the first time since April 2019, there was no involvement at Halifax from Chris Millington, with new faces on and off the pitch, including ex-Town midfielder Sam Walker as assistant to Lakeland.
Those looking for clues about the season ahead wouldn't have forecasted Will Harris' magnificent 27 goal-haul based on his first two appearances, although they might have foreseen that penalties would be the team's Achilles heel.
Harris missed a late spot-kick in a disappointing 3-0 opening day defeat at Braintree, which featured seven new players starting, and was then sent-off after 15 minutes at Wealdstone, with ten-man Town going down fighting, losing 2-1, but missing another penalty.
After the relative calm and continuity of the Milington era, it was a bit of a rocky start.
But a 1-0 win at Boston got things up and running before an encouraging performance in a home defeat to Forest Green Rovers, the first game on the lush new Shay surface.
There were five points in the next three games, with Yeovil beaten 3-2 - including a first goal for Harris and Josh Hmami filling in brilliantly at centre-back - in-between draws against Scunthorpe and Woking, with home crowds already worryingly low.
Like missed penalties, low crowds would be a theme of the season.
A sobering 3-0 loss at Southend on September 6 was Town's last defeat for eight games though, starting with a National League Cup victory over Middlesbrough under 21s and coming back from 2-0 to draw with Eastleigh.
Performances had been patchy, with Halifax relying more on grit and determination, but the next six games saw them produce some excellent attacking football as they embarked on their best run of form since October 2016.
Gateshead - in extraordinary conditions - Morecambe, Aldershot, Rochdale, Brackley and Southport, in the FA Cup, were all beaten as The Shaymen reached top gear and began to form an identity based on lightning fast transitions, attractive build-up play and a strong work ethic.
Hmami - he's in your head - was proving a superb addition already and scored twice in a hugely impressive win at Rochdale, which would look even better as the season went on.
It was one extreme to the other after Southport though, with a 3-0 win over Leeds under 21s in the National League Cup - with Owen Devonport becoming the first Town player to score a hat-trick since Tom Denton in August 2016 - the only win in Halifax's next seven, which included four straight defeats without a goal as they were knocked out of the FA Cup at home to Exeter City.
But Halifax, and Harris, put their foot down again, with the forward netting a hat-trick in the 3-0 win over Millington's Solihull on November 22.
The 2-1 defeat at Boreham Wood on November 29 would be Town's last of 2025 amid a storming end to the year, with Hmami and Harris excelling, summer signing AJ Warburton showing promise and defender Will Smith returning from injury like he'd never been away.
A pair of back-to-back wins started and then finished December, with Smith scoring on first start for ten months, either side of a 2-2 home draw with Wealdstone, who fought back from 2-0 down.
The New Year started with a 2-1 defeat at Forest Green - which was Hmami's last appearance for a month amid a transfer request - with a late Town goal contentiously ruled out, before a run of four straight wins, including a second conseutive 4-0 victory in the FA Trophy, with Harris in fantastic form and scoring a magnificent overhead kick in a 3-2 win at Eastleigh.
After defeat at Tamworth in the National League Cup, penalties proved punishing again as Halifax lost on spot-kicks to Kidderminster in the FA Trophy at the end of January before precious points were lost, 3-2 at Aldershot and 1-1 at Brackley.
After a home win over Truro on Valentine's Day - Harris again ole ole - there were back-to-back defeats against York and, for the first time in 21 meetings, Gateshead, in which Town surpassed their league tally of goals for the whole of last season with 12 games left.
By now, Halifax had lost ground in the race for the play-offs, but put in a spirited fight to make up lost ground, going unbeaten in their next five and winning three in-a-row against Hartlepool, Boreham Wood and Solihull.
But consecutive defeats against promotion contenders Carlisle and Scunthorpe left Town with too much ground to make up.
Jay Turner-Cooke's late winner at Altrincham on Good Friday postponed the inevitable before Harris missed a late penalty in the 2-2 home draw with Tamworth on Bank Holiday Monday.
That, combined with the goalless draw at Yeovil, put paid to Halifax's rapidly fading play-off hopes, making the final home game with Southend a dead rubber, and the subsequent 6-2 drubbing all the more depressing.
But a bizarre late own goal at Woking at least saw the season end on a positive note, sealing the 20th win of the campaign and 70 points Lakeland wanted.
In most other seasons, that would surely have been enough for a top seven spot, but this time, they had to settle for being the best of the rest.
PLAYER OF THE SEASON
A lot of contenders - even compiling a shortlist feels harsh on those left off it. In no particular order, Cody Johnson, Shaun Hobson, Jay Turner-Cooke, Will Harris and Will Hugill would be the five main contenders. Johnson and Turner-Cooke have formed an excellent partnership in central midfield - both are young, hungry players, and neither is afraid to get on the ball and try to dictate play. Johnson is capable of running with the ball, playing short, quick passes or one-twos to bypass the opposition and works exceptionally hard. Turner-Cooke's passing range is outstanding, as is his vision and technique. Hobson has been Mr Consistency at the back, rarely, if ever, dropping below a seven-out-of-ten and making solid, brave and committed defending look easy and simple. Hugill has shown a voracious work ethic and first-class attitude, embracing the less glamorous side to the game and reminding Town fans of past players of his ilk such as Matty Pearson and Kieron Green. Harris has surpassed anyone's expectations of him, becoming the most successful Halifax striker in-front of goal since Lee Gregory in 2014-15, often playing up-front by himself but facing up to centre-halves taller and stronger than him, linking play effectively and producing some superb goals. Tough choice, but Harris gets my vote, just ahead of Hobson.
GOAL OF THE SEASON
Fitting that this goes to the man who scored more than any other Town player this season, Will Harris. Shaun Hobson's clearance from just outside his own box at Eastleigh was flicked on first-time by Harris on halfway to David Kawa, who ran into the box on the left. His cross was awkward for Harris, who did brilliantly to chest it close to the penalty spot before showing magnificent athleticism, quick-thinking and technique to produce a left-footed overhead kick past keeper Nick Townsend.
SIGNING OF THE SEASON
Seeing as though he's my player of the season, it would be odd for him not be my signing of the season as well. He had a nightmare start to the campaign and for a time, faced a fight to assert himself as the club's first-choice strikert, but once Harris hit his stride, he was magnificent. Adam Lakeland twice tried to sign him for King's Lynn, and deserves massive credit for bringing him to Halifax.
HIGH POINT OF THE SEASON
The 2-1 win at Rochdale on October 1. It was in the middle of a fantastic run of six straight wins for Town, who had to really dig deep on the night against a very strong opponent. The Shaymen worked incredibly hard as a team, with Josh Hmami scoring both goals, and came away with a hugely impressive result.
LOW POINT OF THE SEASON
Town suffered their fourth defeat in a row and their fourth game without a goal as they lost 2-0 at Sutton in November. Sutton had won fewer games in the National League than any other team, but deprived of their most creative, penetrative players in Jay Turner-Cooke, Josh Hmami, Florent Hoti and David Kawa, The Shaymen looked a shadow of the side that strung together a six-game winning run just over a month previously.